Our Field
by acrid-april
Summary: Cat and I would sometimes go out to this field near a forest that we found a while ago. Cat would sit on the old wooden swing hanging from the branch of a huge tree, and I'd stand behind her, absentmindedly pushing her back and forth. Cat/Tori.


Cat and I would sometimes go out to this field near a forest that we found a while ago. Cat would sit on the old wooden swing hanging from the branch of a huge tree, and I'd stand behind her, absentmindedly pushing her back and forth, both of us muttering things about school and our friends; the typical things that teenage girls talked about. Other times we'd both just lie back in the tall grass, staring up at the clouds and finding things in them. Cat most often found things like bunnies and ice cream cones and princesses while I'd try to make up more crazy, strange things. Maybe a tiger dancing with a frog. A person trying to fly. Things like that. Sometimes Cat would sit silently and spend her time making necklaces and crowns out of flowers. She was so good at making them. She'd weave the stems of flowers together with careful movements, working so quickly, but having everything she made turn out so perfectly, no flaws at all. I had no idea how she worked so quickly, like she didn't even think of what she was doing. It just happened. She'd gently place the crowns on my head, wrap the necklaces around my neck and tie off the back of them. It was nice to be able to just sit in that field sometimes, away from all the drama of our school. We could relax and not worry about anything for a while. Cat would lean against me, head on my shoulder as she rambled about stories involving her crazy brother. I'd always laugh, even after I'd heard each story more than twice. Cat would let me make up stories. Anything from fairy tales to realistic stories or even sometimes scary stories. Eventually she started bringing a notebook when we went to the field, and she'd write the stories out as I told them. She never let anyone else read them, and kept them for whenever I wasn't feeling creative. We'd go back through the notebook, pick a story and change it so it would be better. Cat would also sometimes draw a scene from the story in the corner of a page. The drawings would range from tiny little stick figures to full out drawings that sometimes took up the whole page. I'd always wonder where she got her talent from, but she'd always just laugh and shrug it off.

"I don't know what you're talking about. They're just doodles." she'd say.

At first it started off as us just going there every other week or so- when we were bored or had nothing else to do. Then it progressed to us going every week. We'd make plans for it. Soon it changed into us wanting to go there every single day. It was like our own world. When school was out we spent almost every day of our summer out in that field. No one else knew about it. And we hoped that it stayed that way. It did. For a while, at least.  
Even after high school, when we were both going off to different colleges, we'd come back to the field as often as we could. I still told stories, and Cat still wrote them down and added drawings to them. She still made the flower crowns and necklaces. In fact, they had inspired one of my stories that went on for the longest time. It was about two princesses who ran away from their castles to go live in the woods and made their own kingdom there. The princesses just so happened to bear a striking resemblance to Cat and I when she'd draw them, but I never asked about anything. As more time passed, we weren't able to go to the field as often, but we still tried to make plans to go there. We'd go maybe once or twice a month. After college, that turned to once every few months. Cat had found some guy that she had just recently gotten engaged to, and didn't have time to waste, seeing that she and her to be husband were planning their wedding. She'd call every once and a while- more than any of my old friends did, but still not much, and ask if I wanted to help her with it. I'd always find some excuse. I didn't want to have to spend time around Cat if her fiance was there too. I was much too used to being alone with her, not hiding anything. If I had to be around her with some other person who I barely knew? It would seem like we weren't even the same people. So I'd only get to talk to her on the few days we could meet up. We didn't talk much about what we used to when we were younger. It was all about adult business and work and boring things like that.  
One day Cat was making her flower crowns for the first time in months. I was playing with the frayed ends of my jeans, trying to keep a conversation about her wedding going on, but we'd both just stop talking at points, not saying anything. I had just been asking her a few questions when I felt her place one of the crowns on my head. I looked up to see her standing behind me, a small smile on her face. Without a word she moved to sit down next to me, moving around to get comfortable in the tall grass.

"Do you remember that one story you made up? The one about the princesses who lived in the woods?" she said, looking up at the sky.

I nodded, turning my head towards her. "Yeah. Why? Did you find your old notebook?" I asked, curious.

A small smile crossed her face. "I still hide that thing under my pillow. I'd have no problems finding it if I wanted it." she said, still staring up at the sky, which was a mix of pale pinks, oranges and yellows with fluffy white clouds drifting across it. "Anyways. I was just thinking of this place the other day and that came to mind. It was one of the things that stuck out from all the time we spent here." she muttered, then looked over at me. "You know, even with all the time we spent here, I never did half the things I wanted to. Sometimes I wish we were just back in high school."

I was slightly confused about the 'never did half of the things I wanted to' part, but I just nodded. "Yeah." I said quietly.

She looked back at the sky, silently watching it for at least 10 minutes. I was starting to think she wouldn't talk again until we left when she spoke again.

"I told him-my fiance- about this place." she said, looking at me with a small frown on her face. "And I'm sorry. I know we said that we'd never tell anyone about it but it kind of just slipped out." she said. "I'm really sorry."

I didn't know what else to do but shrug. "Someone was going to find out about it sooner or later anyway." I said, trying to make her feel better.

"That's not all though." she said, full out frowning now. "You know how he works for that really big company thing? Like the home builder company or whatever? Well apparently they've known about this place for a few months. They're planning on making a new neighborhood here." Cat said, her voice becoming more quiet towards the end.

Tons of emotions rushed through me. Sorrow, anger, disbelief. I didn't want to believe it, but Cat wouldn't lie or joke about something like this.

"And...he can't stop it?" I said, my voice sounding cracked and quiet.

"He said he wouldn't even if he could. 'It's just a field, dear. There are lots more out there.'" she said, and I assumed she was more or less quoting her fiance.

"I'm sorry..." I muttered, reaching over and taking her hand in mine, gently squeezing it and trying to comfort her.

She shook her head a bit. "What he said should be true. But this field is so much more than any other, you know? Like, my best memories have all happened here. Well, and in candy stores." she said with a small laugh.

I smiled at her for a few moments. "So, did he tell you when they...start building here?"

She shook her head. "I, uh, actually might have started crying over it. He said I was over reacting and refused to tell me." she muttered.  
I rolled my eyes, not at her, but at her fiance. He was being ridiculous, not caring about feelings that she had for this place, even if it seemed like such a small thing.

"He's being stupid about this." I said before I could stop myself. To my surprise I found her nodding.

"He is." she agreed. "I actually asked him if he'd consider having the wedding here before he told me...he just rolled his eyes at me and said that he'd never want to have a wedding in some random field. 'Too much dirt. Too many bugs.'" she said in a fake man voice. I laughed, and she smiled over at me.

"You should just collect a jar of dirt and bugs and empty it out onto the bed. See how he reacts." I teased. She giggled, grinning now.  
"Thanks for cheering me up Tor." she said, moving over to me and wrapping me in a bone crushing hug. I squirmed around a little, trying to escape.  
"Cat. I can't. Breathe." I huffed, and she laughed a bit, unwrapping her arms from around me.

"Sorry." she said, but she didn't look sorry; she was still smiling. I rolled my eyes and smirked, pushing her away. She grabbed onto my arm and fell back into the grass, dragging me down with her. I rolled over, laying down beside her. I turned my head to look at her to see that she had her head turned too, her forehead almost touching mine.

"You know, maybe those two princesses will come and stop that company from destroying our field. We should give them powers in the story or something." Cat said, a joking tone in her voice.

"Yeah." I said while smiling. "Powers to destroy stupid companies who want to ruin our field." Our field. I liked how that sounded. I'd mostly just thought of it as 'a field', but saying our field made it seem...I don't know. Better some how.

Cat smiled softly, then moved so she was cuddled up against me. "Tell me a story, Tor." she muttered, her eyes half way closed.

So we stayed there for hours and hours, me making up more parts of the princess story. There was a happy ending. They protected our field from everyone and no one ever tried to touch it again. By the end of the story it was getting dark out, so we both decided to go home, promising to come back to the field as soon as we could. We were both just walking into the woods when Cat stopped me by grabbing my arm.

She pulled me into a hug, her grip on me tight.W hen Cat moved away she laughed quietly, reaching up and pulling the flower crown off my head, which had somehow stayed there and had been forgotten about. Cat didn't say anything else before starting to walk back through the forest, down the path that lead to where we had our cars parked. I stood there for a while, still shocked. After a few minutes I followed the way she had gone, but didn't see her. By the time I got to my car hers was gone. I sighed quietly, getting into my car and driving home. The whole way home the only thing that was on my mind was Cat. Cat, Cat, Cat. I turned on the radio, trying to push my thoughts of her away, but one of our favorites songs just happened to be playing.

_'Meet me on Thames Street_  
_I'll take you out_  
_Though I'm hardly worth your time_  
_In the cold, you look so fierce_  
_But I'm warm enough_  
_Because the tension's like a fire_  
_We'll hit South Broadway in a matter of minutes_  
_And like a bad movie, I'll drop a line_  
_Fall in the grave I've been digging myself_  
_But there's room for two_  
_Six feet under the stars'_

Instead of turning it off like I should have I ended up singing along to it, almost imagining Cat sitting next to me and singing too.

The rest of the songs on the radio didn't catch my attention, and I spent the rest of my time thinking about her. I pulled into my driveway, parked the car, and went inside. Upstairs. Bed. Lay down and sleep.

Or stay up and think about Cat.

That's how the next month and a half went. Maybe I'd get in a few days when I thought about other important things, but she was always on my mind. She hadn't called in forever. Maybe she was ignoring me now because I did something wrong.

I definitely had to have done something wrong. Hadn't she said that she'd try to talk to me as soon as she could?

After waiting for that month and a half, I finally got a phone call from her. When I heard the number of the caller being said by the monotone voice of the phone I literally ran to grab the phone. When I answered I heard Cat's voice. A lot more quiet than usual.

"Tori...Can you meet me at the field?" she said. I nodded, then realized that she wasn't next to me.

"Yeah. I'll be there as soon as I can." I said, already walking to get my car keys.

"Alright. See you there. Bye Tor." she muttered, then hung up. I put the phone down on a table and walked out to my car, keys in hand. I got in the car, taking the road to the field, knowing the way without even having to think about it. In twenty minutes I was at the small little space that Cat and I used for parking our cars. I saw that hers was already there. I got out of the car and started to walk along the narrow path that went through the forest and lead back to our field. Just as I started to get closer to it I started to smell smoke and the air seemed more clouded. I frowned. They couldn't have started working on the homes already. I shrugged it off and just kept walking until I saw the tree that marked the end of the forest and start of our field.

Oh. They had.

All I saw in front of me was trucks and huge piles of bricks and other building supplies. Part of the forest was cut away and there were huge tire tracks in the grass. Cat was sitting a little bit away from me. On that old wooden swing. She had a notebook on her lap. I started walking over to her, and I'm sure she heard me, but she didn't look up.

"Cat." That was all I said. Before I could even put my hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her she stood up and practically flung herself into my arms, hugging me and burying her face in my shoulder. I felt her shaking, and she was probably crying. I let out a small sigh, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head. "Shh. Everything's going to be fine. Everything is fine." I muttered, not only trying to convince her but also trying to convince myself. I stood there, just hugging her for quite a while. When she finally moved away a bit I could see that she was still crying, though not as much. I wiped the tears from her eyes with one hand.

"He just told me today that they had already started work here." she said, her voice cracking. "I'm sorry I couldn't have told you sooner."

I shook my head. "It's fine, Cat. You didn't know." She didn't say anything else, just kept on hugging me. Eventually I got tired of standing so I sat down, and Cat did the same, still clinging to me. I was holding her hand now, muttering small things to try and comfort her while I watched the huge trucks destroy our field. Cat seemed a lot calmer now, but she never loosened her grip on me. Finally, after waiting for an hour, Cat let go of me, sitting up on her own. She stared out at the now ruined field, then looked down at the notebook she was still holding. Without a word she opened it up, flipping past pages of handwritten stories and drawings until she was towards the end of it on a blank page. She turned the notebook sideways and then started drawing. At first I couldn't tell what she was drawing, but I didn't want to bother her, so I just kept quiet and watched her. Slowly the picture started to form. The little blades of grass she drew, to the trees and leafs, the flowers scattered in the field. Our field. That's what she was drawing. But how? She didn't have anything to look at, seeing that the field was now being destroyed. And she didn't even look up once. Could she have possibly remember it? Every detail? Cat continued to draw, making quick movements with her hand, never hesitating. She put so much detail into a picture that was being drawn on notebook paper. Making the lines of bark on the trees, the tiny little petals of flowers, even the leaves that would fall on the ground. She was done with it a lot sooner than I thought she would be- and it was a million times more amazing than anything else anyone else could have ever done. Cat looked back at me.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do I like it?" I asked, in a surprised tone. "Cat, it's amazing. And I'm not just saying that. It's really, really beautiful. How did you do this?"

Cat smiled, shrugging. "Oh, it's just a doodle." she muttered, then handed me the notebook. "You should keep this. It's more yours than mine."

I shook my head, pushing it towards her. "No way, Cat. You wrote everything down in here. You're the one who did all these drawings. You should keep it."

Cat frowned. "Tori...We're moving."

I frowned, confused. "Wait, what? Who's moving? Why?"

Cat sighed. "Me. Jack. We're moving. Out of California. He has a chance for a new job in New York, and..." she trailed off, looking away. "We're leaving in a month or so. He's already started packing things."

Before I knew it I felt tears forming in my eyes. I quickly rubbed them away, then looked at Cat. "But..." No. I didn't want to make her feel worse. I sighed, then took the notebook from her, flipping through the pages.

"I'll still call you. As much as I can." she said. I just nodded.

"Yeah." It wouldn't be the same. I felt Cat hug me again, but I didn't bother to do anything. I was loosing my best friend along with our field. Wonderful.

We didn't spend much longer there. Cat hugged me before she drove away, and I found myself never wanting the hug to end. If I just held here there for long enough maybe she'd stay. But she didn't. She broke the hug, walked away, and drove home.

Cat did call a lot in the next month, but I never answered. It would only remind me that she would be gone soon. Soon I was sitting on my bed, listening to a voice mail telling me about her new phone numbers.

After about three years I started to forget about Cat. About our field, too. I moved around from place to place, but still stayed in California. It started with me not hearing from Cat for months, and then the months turned into years, and then it became two years, three years, four years...until I didn't hear for her for ten.

Then one day when I got on to check my email I saw one at the top. From Cat. Cat Valentine. I opened it, to see just a few sentences.

**Hey Tor. I know we haven't talked in a while. Well, more than a while. But anyways, I thought I should let you know that I'm not married anymore. Long story short, we kept having huge fights, so we just decided to end it. Anyways, I miss you. Maybe you could write back?**

Without thinking I started typing a response- one that was changed over and over until I only had a tiny little bit of a reply left.

_Hey Cat! I've missed you too. Is everything okay with you right now? I'm sorry that your relationship ended. but he deserved it. Sorry I haven't called or emailed you in forever. I've been busy. _  
_Lies. Lots of them. But it was the best I could do. I sighed, pressing send, then getting off my laptop. _

A few days later there was another email from Cat including lots of smiley faces and exclamation points. I decided to just send back a simple reply. A few lies (Yeah, I've been really happy lately too. Everything's just fine around here) and then I hit send. The rest of the day was spent lounging on the couch, watching some stupid reality TV shows. Around nine o'clock I heard my doorbell ring. Strange. No one ever really came to visit me except for my parents and sometimes Trina. I turned the volume of the TV down, then stood up and walked to the door, opening it.

I was suddenly tackled, a flash of red hair visible out of the corner of my eyes.

"Hey Tor!"

Cat? I pulled away slightly, looking at the person who was hugging me. Yes. It was Cat.

She was smiling. "I've missed you. A lot." she said.

"How did you...why..." I stuttered, confused.

"You have all your contact info on your email account. Including your address." she said with a smirk on her face. "I figured that if I had enough for a plane ticket over here that I'd come stay with you. Besides, I let you stay over at my house before, so you owe me." she joked. "And I already have my stuff packed. Well, most of it." she said, then turned and walked back outside, picking up two suitcases and a medium sized bag and dragging them inside.

"Cat-"

"You're not getting rid of me now, Tori." she said, slightly laughing.

I smiled. "I was going to say, welcome back."


End file.
